Attropolis XXV

In dismay, he thought that she’d never lie to him, that she wouldn’t simply betray him. This felt like extortion from a grieving mother, that couldn’t just let go and move on. It seemed suicidal on her part, and maddening on his, as he wanted to protect her, but this broke his trust. He didn’t know what to believe, but she continued to plead, to ask and beg. She just wouldn’t shut up for a second, this made things only harder of him, as he couldn’t think clearly, her words cluttering his mind and disturbing it. One question kept popping up in his mind, asking himself, why she would lie about this and why should would lie about it now. He kept trying to ask her, but she just wouldn’t answer, just dodging and dodging every single time he tried to ask her why. Thus Olanus grew impatient, nervous, and saddened as she pushed her misery and her tragedy upon him further. He was a father to now a dead son, lover to the mother of said child, grief now struck him harder.

Alicaria seemed proud of herself, bringing such a man to his knees. He stood up, gently, took her in his arms, sat her on a stool and with a serious look on his face asked her again why would she keep this from him, why would she tell him all this now and to what gain. She now got scared, she never saw him this serious with her, and on that deep tone of voice. But she knew that she had to keep this up if she wanted to go with him to war. Since he might not ever return back to her. At least that’s what she was thinking. So she told a partial truth, saying that she was afraid of his reaction, knowing her reputation and just how people are. As to why now, she just told him that she wouldn’t want him gone, forever, she couldn’t bare to lose someone else this soon. Telling him that if he dies in battle, she wants at least to be there with him. He started laughing, and petting her head. Agreeing to her request to take her with him to war. A few soldiers enter and ask for Olanus, as the Caesar has become too impatient and needs him. He goes, leaving her behind, as she thought to pack a few other things with her on the way.

Once Olanus got to the Caesar, he sighed in relief, thinking that maybe some assassins had got to him. Or worse, that he had betrayed him and the empire. But this had made him calmer and happier, seeing on of his most trusted men there. Once they all met, Augustus told his generals, that once he crushes these insolent bastards and does what no emperor had done before and take over Dacia, he’ll maybe add two months to the calendar to celebrate it. Or have some column of some sort to remember his triumphs.

Thus in Greece…

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Pilot Program - Coma,

Time: 10:58:01

Man, I have this headache and my neck is so damn stiff. I don’t know why my body is shaking, maybe it’s the cold that comes with the May mornings. Oh, don’t worry about it, maybe you just slept in a weird position. It happens, you’ll get better once we start running. Let’s go. Ah, yeah, I think I zoned out and forgot why I’m even here. As I raise my head from the ground the shining light blinds me for a second, then the blue of the sky seemed to have opened up. A gust of wind hit us from behind as we started running, as we gained speed, as our hearts started pumping, and our bodies sweating, the wind changed direction, now hitting us with a nice cold breeze to cool us off as the sun was glistening on our skin.

Do you have any family? That’s weird. What do you mean? Why are you asking me this? Nevermind, maybe I misunderstood. What did you say? Ah, so I did misunderstand. Nothing, I just didn’t understand what you asked me. He is chuckling, weird. Do you have a girlfriend? Are my ears deceiving me? What did you just ask me? You know I do. He seems out of it. Sorry, I’m a mess. Oh, I was right. You okay? What happened? He looks perturbed by something. Yeah not really. I’m scared scared I’m losing you. What? Losing me? What are you talking about? He turned and smiled at me. You know… Life happens sometimes and you can’t control it and you just drift apart or life ends and you never get to… You know… What is he talking about? No, no I don’t know. You okay? He chuckles again. Heh, don’t worry about it, I’ll get better, some day. That’s just weird, coming from a guy like him.

Something is different. Man, I could run forever. He started laughing. No one is stopping you, you know? This is all you, man. Run as much as you want, this world belongs to you. Sweat is getting in my eyes, the wind stopped, the heat is suffocating a bit. What time is it? I can’t even read the time on my watch. It’s 10:58. Already? Good thing it’s the weekend. Let’s head back. He is smiling. Didn’t you just say you could run forever? I did, didn’t I? I know what I said, it’s just getting too hot and this heat makes me feel like I’m suffocating. He stops, turns around, puts a hand on my shoulder. Okay, fine. But let’s do this again, it’s one of the last fun things I’m doing lately, and I need it… I need you. Out of reflex I smiled. Sure, see you tomorrow then? His face seemed to have turned ashy. Yes. He ran. I stayed behind as he faded in the distance.

Time: 10:58:02

This is the sixth entry in the Pilot Program. So, remember, if you want to read more, if you want to read more, share it, like it, comment, re-read it and it might become the next 52 week story, the one for 2020.

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Attropolis XXIV

The wind was unruly, moving like a rebellious child, throwing stuff down as the rain was hitting Rome from all sides. The grey of the skies, only seemed to have forced the cold into the bones of the people and the soldiers of the Capital. Yet, it didn’t matter, preparations were well under way, with Caesar himself overlooking the process. Angry, frustrated and disappointed in the lack of urgency, he insisted that they should hurry. In all that, there was a fear behind his eyes, thinking that this would spread in other corners of his empire. He didn’t wish his triumphs and efforts crumble and history to remember him as the one that brought down the Roman Empire. Something else that was worrying him was the fact that Olanus was nowhere to be found in this crucial time.

On the other side of the Capital, Alicaria was begging Olanus to take her with him. She couldn’t stand the loneliness and emptiness of her home anymore. He kept refusing her, she kept insisting, a cycle that wouldn’t break due to her persistence and insistence. She begged, wept, sexed and begged again, trying whatever she had in her arsenal to convince him to let her go with him. Seeing this, she started to get frustrated. She had to try one last thing. Something she hadn’t done yet to him. Not that she had done that to anyone, if there was one thing she always kept to, was this. Seeing him getting ready to leave, she stood up, crept up to him, and engulfed him with her limbs. Telling him that there’s one thing she had never told him. And that was the truth about who Juliusegos’s father was.

Olanus, nothing but shocked, he had thought that he knew who the father was, because she had told him years ago that it had been a merchant that traveled through the empire. Someone she loved and traveled with, until his untimely death after he was hit in the head with a rock that had fallen from a building in Rome. How could she have lied to him? How could she imply that he was the father? She never lied, so why would she lied about this? These are just some of the things he was thinking at the moment, as he was trying to make sense of what was happening. Nothing made sense, he was a mess.

She started telling him the story. In fact the merchant was his father, and while he did make her into what she had become, by lending her to others. He was her first love, because what daughter doesn’t love her father, as he taught her how to do her job and how things worked. Olanus was the first man, besides her old man, that she loved. She still remembers how he had come in the brothel the first time, just a young tall and handsome man, with his cock erect, she fell instantly for him. And all those times that they had sex, he was the only one besides her daddy, that she let it all inside. And besides them, no one else. The fact that the merchant had died, her father, was still true, thus, the baby could have only been his. Shocked, he remained…

And so…

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Trapped: Summer Official Release

Welcome everyone, nice to have you here today. No, this isn’t a livestream, nor is it a video or a live presentation, it’s just a post this time. I’ve been busy, writing, content creating, learning, exciting stuff. We’re finally officially here, Trapped: Summer launch day, I am so happy to be finally done with this book, with this series, and especially with Summer. This book drove me into a severe depression that was followed by panic attacks and anxiety. Things that I have yet to fully recover from.

Thinking about this book, I would really just want to cry and cry and cry. Because it is finally done and it feels like a curse has been lifted. Though, I still feel trapped, somehow the chains feel less heavy now than when I first started writing this series. And what a journey it has been, I’ve learned a lot and improved as a writer and this can be seen through the second editions of Autumn and Spring and then through Winter and now Summer. I am proud of what I achieved here, and I am happy that I got to write this series, it really meant a lot to me.

When I first started writing this forth book, I thought that writing the story I always wanted to write in some sense, would be fitting, especially to end it on another personal note, since it started with an autobiographical story of mine, felt fitting to end it on a similar note. Yet here is the thing that got tricky… When you go into a larger period of your personal life, especially when it deals with traumatic events. Sometimes you don’t recognize the amount of regrets or mistakes you made, until you do something like this and dive deep into what you remember.

So when I started writing Trapped: Summer all these things came back up, I thought it would be cathartic, going through such an experience. Yet I realized that I wanted to tell some people things I didn’t have the guts to tell them the first time, at the right time. The more I thought about this and the more I wrote the book, the deeper I had to dig, and the deeper I had to dig, the more questions I had about my own self and my decisions and thought processes. The realization of certain things, broke me.

When I came up with the ideas for Winter and Summer, the process was more complicated and I explained it when I launched Winter. But this whole idea of walking into your own past, is terrifying now to me, and I really can’t wait for you all to read this book, to see, to ask and to feel what I felt in some capacity writing Trapped: Summer. That’s all I can really say about the story of how Trapped: Summer was written, how it became and what it meant to me.

Hope you all enjoy it,

Raul F. O.

You can buy Trapped: Summer here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SRT48XL

New Book Announcement

Summer, what a beauty of a season. Short warm nights, with lovely winds that feel like an embrace. Light that feels you with joy and heat that smothers you with its hotness. And this is the last of them, the last season in the Trapped: Seasons saga. The forth book in three years, another one, but this is bigger, and just so much more. You have no idea how much joy is in my heart announcing this book and finally putting it out there in the world for everyone. This series has been a certain something to me. While these are my first steps into literature, they’re also something very special, something very traumatic. And I think that’s why there’s a certain happiness with the release of Trapped: Summer, honestly.

Trapped: Summer picks up not much later after Trapped: Winter ends, with Richard and Al still loitering around, chasing a mad dream of revenge whilst running away from something. And somewhere else, Vile, a 29 year old man, struggling with his current relationship and career, finds himself walking 11 years into his own past. That’s the synopsis in a few sentences. This last chapter too, is autobiographical fiction, being based on some of what I remember to be the most crucial parts in my past relationships. Or perhaps the most traumatic ones, what stuck with me through the years.

Trapped: Summer is the longest book and project I have ever worked on. Through a grueling process that took over a year, it is definitely the biggest of all four books. The sheer immense amount of work that went into this, from re-writings to restructuring and reworking the book in such a way that it brings an epic finale to this wonderful series, it’s all been absolutely a terrifying work. But I am proud to present to you Trapped: Summer, the end of an epic four years of learning, and hard work.

You can pre-order the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SRT48XL

Thank you and see you soon.

Attropolis XXIII

As the morning dew was settling, so was the relationship between Hippos and the giant. While the child was still apprehensive about him, he started trusting him. He knew this very well, which is why he too never really left his guard down around the child. Leading by example was his plan, showing him respect and demanding it too. Showing bravery and steadiness in face of any sort of uncertainty. As scarred and scary the giant looked, as gentle and caring he acted around Hippos, except for training. In training was the place where he demanded every bit of kindness, respect and shelter he had given the boy back through excellence. And he delivered, the dynamic worked.

But that morning, there was something unusual, something that made Hippos very anxious and wary. The giant left in a hurry, leaving the boy to himself, a first if anything. This would never happen, under any circumstances, he needed answers, but there were none to find. He didn’t know whether the tutor would come, or whether he should go find the soldiers. Confused and bewildered by this, he simply froze dumbfounded. What can he do all on his own? Should he run? Should he stay? There were so many thoughts that just didn’t make any sense. No matter how he had looked at this situation, he was on his own. After a while, he went outside and did the only thing he knew to do as of late, train. Trying to take his mind off this through exercises the giant and the soldiers had thought him.

A faint sharp pitched snap followed by the sound of an arrow approaching startled Hippos. Turning around the arrow passed before his eyes before plunging itself into the ground. Hippos started running towards a shield, throwing himself after it, picking it, rolling and finally on a bend knee, shield up to protect from another projectile, he sits there for a second. Then carefully peaking over the shield he sees Adpetentia running towards him laughing. His reaction was one of shock, before he got to even snap out of it, she tackled him. With her on top, smiling, she wishes him a happy birthday. A tradition brought by the Romans to Greece, one of the few things the Greeks actually appreciated about the Roman Empire. With many still, of course, thinking that it’s a pagan tradition that defies the gods. Hippos had forgotten about his own birthday, now he was finally six years old. The giant had left to go pick up his cake, and to gift him some more time with his love. Because he knew, something was coming, he knew that disaster was upon Creetus. History was about to be written.

And in Rome

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Attropolis XXII

WHY IS IT THAT I GOT THIS NEWS JUST NOW? WHY DID IT GET US WEEK TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS? WHOSE JOB WAS IT TO KEEP IN TOUCH AND KEEP AN EYE OVER THOSE DAMN GREEKS? Augustus screamed and asked in his frustration. The room was silent. I ASKED YOU ALL A QUESTION!!! ANSWER ME! None of them had the courage to say anything or even look him in the eye. As Olanus was late, he had asked the Caesar to calm down and explain the situation again. Dear friend, maybe you can answer me this. Looking at Olanus with a need for a satisfactory answer. It looks like, the Greeks rebelled against us, killing our troops and our emissary there. Then they had the guts, to masquerade as them… THAT WAS WEEKS AGO. Augustus shouted again at his generals. Now, if you can tell me who was responsible for watching over the Greeks and why we only got news of what happened now, that’s be lovely.

The room was quite quiet, tension in the air, only Olanus’s footsteps echoing through the room as he was pacing thinking for an answer. The Caesar sitting down, head in his hands, waiting for his answer. But Olanus knew the dangers of answering stupidly to Augustus, so he was taking his sweet time. And Augustus trusted in Olanus, he was one of the few people that got his patience. ENOUGH! This sparked his neurons, giving him the perfect answer. I think I know what happened. Everyone was now listening carefully to Olanus, waiting for his answer. I was supposed to oversee the Greeks after the glorious battle of Actium, but you chose to keep me by your side instead, thus betraying my no good brother. And if I am not mistaken you put your old friend Bigus Dicus in charge. The room almost burst out into laughter, but Augustus wasn’t pleased. Furious at their reaction, Augustus raises out of his chair, and goes around to his generals. Do you think this is funny? To make mockery of my dear friend, Bigus Dicus. You… Do you still find the need to giggle when I mention my friend Bigus Dicus? Cheeks were puffed and red all over the room, tears rolling down their faces as they forced themselves not to laugh, since they all found it risible.

Olanus calms the Caesar down after a while, with Augustus now collected the meeting continued. Right, you are right. I will personally look to executing that fool. He made a mockery of Rome and I won’t stand for it. We need to send troops there now! And send orders to the rest of our legions in Greece and Macedon to stay on guard for any other potential uprisings from the plebs. Because this means war against all of Greece and Bigus Dicus! Proud he left the room and everyone started laughing uncontrollably.

And in Greece

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Attropolis XXI

As Greeks sneaked into Creetus, making it the base of the resistance against the Roman Empire, the town slowly grew. Big, small, woman, child, man, they welcomed them all. They needed women to make children, they needed men to fight, and they needed children to do the things the men were too big to do. People rebuilt and started occupying the empty houses from before that horrible thunderstorm of a nightmare. Though from different parts, the community got along quite well, in fact the need pushed them and tied them together. Which turned into prosperity, as nothing bring prosperity more than desperation and a threat to your own existence. Even though they were a community, they didn’t have a leader or someone to follow, each of them were contributing whatever they knew and could to help others.

Slowly they started specializing, finding a precise field to focus on, whether in the army as soldiers or as civilians. Now fear turned into determination and hard work, their output of weapons grew, their abilities as soldiers too. Since most of them had never touched a sword in their lives. Going from wimps to quite the competent soldier isn’t an easy feat in a few weeks, which is why they all worked themselves dry to the bone. Under the command on the Giant and Hippos they turned out to be quite the band of merry potent soldiers. Adpetentia was always somewhere on the side, watching, swooning over him, proud that at her age, she had found someone better than her father would ever be. At the same time she knew that if he were to become the genius he is, people would probably hate him, most already do out of envy. And if he were to get on that battlefield, who knew when or if he’d ever come back. So, with every passing day and training Hippos was going through, she wished to the gods that he’d get so good that no enemy would get to touch him.

This all changed when a band of Romans suddenly visited Creetus and found out what happened. They quickly took fight and sent a couple of them on the road to Rome. As the people of Creetus took to arms to defend themselves once again against the Romans. A few men got on horses and ran after those two soldiers, trying to catch them before word got out of their independence to Rome. With the advantage in numbers the Cretins push the Romans back into one of the most dangerous places of the city. The point of entry into the forest that leads into the mountains. There most of the Romans fell into the traps put up by people every evening. Thus slaughtering them and using their bodies as bait for the traps, to catch those pesky animals roaming the forest. One of the two soldiers that was supposed to be on his way to Rome also got caught into a trap, he too was killed and used as a bait, though sadly one of them escaped successfully to Rome…

And then in Rome…

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Pilot Program - The Spiteful Playwright

“Stories, we all have them. As humans, we’re all social creatures, no matter how much we don’t like to admit it. That’s why we sometimes act out, that’s why being rejected hurts us and why being lonely is depressing and frustrating. And stories, are the one thing that we all like. We all tell each other stories, whether we think them, tell them or write them, we always tell stories. Big, small, happy, tragic, stories are what bind us, helps us understand each other.”

The phone rang, it was her again, I picked up more out of a sense of shame for denying them once too many times. Hello? She didn’t wait for me to finish the greeting as she went on her tirade. Hey, you finally picked up, look… Here’s the deal, I’m with a theater troupe at a coffee right now. I know one of the actresses here and the guy that runs this whole deal. So, as the conversation progressed, I asked them what they were performing and doing in town and stuff like that, right? Yeah, so listen here, they told me that they want to try something new, something different, right? So guess who I thought about? Yeah, Mr. Author, it’s you. I thought about you and your books. I remember that you once told me that you’d want your books turned into a theater piece and that you’d want it as an audio book but you’d need a theater group. So guess what? I told them about your books, what you’d like to do and what you’re about and how you approach things and what your outlook on the world is and they’d want to talk to you about it. What do you say? Isn’t that amazing? You’ll have to treat me to something, of course I’ll bring my mon cher with me and you, your girl. She sometimes talks like a Shinkansen and you feel like that train hit you and shattered your brains to pieces. This is the motherly awesome Kris, she awesome, but erratic. Anyway, here’s the guy I was telling you about that runs this whole troupe, his name is Andrew by the way. Here… Hey, guy. I’m Andrew, I heard a lot about you from Kris. So you wrote a book? Usually when people ask me that, they either want to clarify things or they’re curious how I’ll respond. Hey, nice to meet you, I wrote like four that are in that style and could be easily turned into plays. I am really curious what he has in mind. Look, we can’t pay you much, but if you want we can give you like a 10% if you’re interested, just so we get this out of the way. And you can even direct it yourself, if you feel like it. That was really odd. So, you don’t want to read them or anything like that? He started laughing. Kris here convinced me, so if you want, we can meet tomorrow if you’re free and discuss the details and what you’d like and what we can offer. Well, they can’t pay me, cause of course they can’t, no one really gives a shit about this, unless you’re a big shot. Fuck it, why not. Yeah, tomorrow sounds great. See you at the statue downtown, next to the bell then. He responded with a sure and that ended the phone call. Well, that’s not how I imagined this would go today. But I’m going to have some fun with this.

This is the fifth of the short stories for the Pilot Program. How does it work? You read the short stories within the pilot program, you re-read them, share them, like them, comment if you like them, force your friends to read them and then maybe this will become the short story series for 2020.

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Attropolis XX

In Rome, neither Olanus nor Alicaria have really gotten over the tragedy, nor were they satisfied with the outcome. But spring has sprung and nice weather still helped lifting their spirits. Wonderful weather also meant more vigor, and war. There was much to conquer on the Northern, Western and Eastern fronts. After a calm winter, Augustus was getting restless as he didn’t trust the peace that had set, as he knew that no conquered nation would just accept it. That and the fact that he had yet to best those that had come before him. His targets were the Hispenic peninsula to the west, to the North and North-West the Gauls, and to the East the Dacians. Since they knew war all too well, being at peace for this long, turned into more than just bloodlust, it felt like proper lust, longing for those thrills, like lusting over the thrills of a past lover.

As the days were passing she stopped visiting the courts and the soldiers, giving up on whoring around. She started taking care of herself, cleaning up nicely now with a kept hair and clean clothing. Olanus kept trying to apologize to her about what he had done, she simply couldn’t, but she needed him and he needed her. They decided to trade favors. He teaching her to fight and defend herself and him to protect her and be by her side. And so, Alicaria had moved in with Olanus, each sleeping in their individual beds in the same room. She cooked for him when he’d go to the courts and he had a small sword made for a lady her stature with which she could defend herself if ever needed. She’d clean his armor, he’d teach her how to punch and kick, she’d clean the house, he’d teach her where to stab in order to kill or subdue an enemy.

Days passing, she was quick to learn and what a fighter she turned out to be. In a matter of a few days she mastered the dagger and throwing knives. Olanus was impressed to see a woman do all these things, yet he knew very well what she was capable of. There was one type of combat she was lacking in, no matter what. Every single time he grasped her arms, she just fell to her knees. Every time she was on her knees, his body just couldn’t her itself and get erect. And from pure instinct she always opened her taking his rod in her mouth. Every time he tried to grasp her by the waste, she’d wrap her legs around him, she’d always get wet and the wrestling lessons would turn into dirty, hot and passionate lovemaking.

After a few weeks, on a dark early morning, Olanus got woken up by some soldiers telling him about the fact that he’d been called to the court in an emergency meeting set up by Augustus himself, after he got news about what happened in Greece.

Previously in Creetus…

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